Don't Let Your Classes Get in the Way of Your Education

When I was in college, I had a mantra “Don't let your classes get in the way of your education”.

 I learned more in the student clubs on campus than I did in the classes on campus. I became a member of the radio station, where I served on the executive board and produced a radio show that’s still on the air 30 years later. I became a member of the student newspaper, where I served on the executive board and wrote a weekly column. And I got involved with the student Government Association.  I learned more about everything, just with those simple interactions in those various clubs and organizations. My experiences with those clubs is what I learned in college that had the most meaningful impact. It wasn’t what I learned in the classroom. So I tell people all the time, "Don't let your classes get in the way of your education."

 Now that I'm teaching pronunciation to ESL students, I kind of have the same mantra, "Don't let your lessons get in the way of your students' education”. When I have a new student, I ask them a couple of key questions. I ask them, Where are you? Where are you from? What do you do? and How long have you been speaking English? With that information, I have a springboard to start conversations with them. I try focus on a connection with my students through popular culture, fiction, movies, hobbies or travel.  I always try to have a little bit of banter with them before we do our lessons. That's where the rubber hits the road. People can ace the practice, they can ace the reading, but when you start talking to them and you try to get them to create language, they sometimes they fail miserably. Free talk is where you can identify these issues. If they're failing miserably, then I am failing miserably.

 Whenever I interact with students online, I try to have as much free talk as possible, because that's when I can tell if they are able to speak, listen, and pronounce English well. So, don't let your lessons get in the way of your student’s education. Your students need to learn more than what the lessons provide. They need to be able to interact with you naturally, in English.